


An (Un)fortunate Accident

by kuro



Series: An (Un)fortunate Accident [1]
Category: Marvel
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Swearing, but it's really pretty tame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-01-24 17:35:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1613516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuro/pseuds/kuro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve gets involved in an accident. He doesn’t think much of it, but Tony does not deal with the situation very well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An (Un)fortunate Accident

**Author's Note:**

  * For [missbecky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky/gifts).



> For missbecky, who needed a little fluff and was kind enough to provide me with an idea for a story. ^__^
> 
> (Yes, it's going to be continued, see my tumblr for the continuation.)

The alarm went off at 6am, just like every morning, and just like every morning, Steve got out of bed immediately and dressed in his running gear. He carefully fixed his shoelaces and took a short look in the mirror to make sure his hair wasn't a complete mess before he left his room (it had happened once, okay, _once_ , and nobody let him forget it. The damn photo had been _everywhere_ ). The hall was still quiet, and Steve gratefully walked the short distance to the elevator without any Avengers suddenly popping up at unexpected places. The would probably try to waylay him when he returned, though. The doors of the elevator had already been opened by JARVIS, so all he really had to do was to walk right in and let JARVIS take care of the rest.

“Thanks, JARVIS,” Steve said, just like every morning.

“It's a pleasure, sir,” JARVIS infallibly answered.

Once he had arrived at the ground floor and left the Tower, Steve greedily breathed in the morning air. It was still a bit cool at the moment, but once the sun was up, the temperature would be just right. He started to run at his usual speed, followed his usual Wednesday route, and had a nice, long run before he returned to the Tower for breakfast. Or at least, that had been the plan.

It happened when Steve already was on the way back, only a few blocks away from the Tower, and he was getting into that stage when his muscles felt well-used, but not overly so. He was just slipping into that state of comfortable tiredness caused by a rigorous workout, and that might have been the reason why he was slow to react when the accident happened.

He saw the car swerve suddenly and veer off the street, straight into the direction of a store front window. For a moment, he idly wondered why the car was doing that. Then he saw the little girl standing just in between the moving car and the window, and his instincts kicked in. Steve was there and had grabbed the girl before he even knew what he was doing. The girl didn't even have the time to startle or shout when he grabbed her and tried to get out of the way in time. He almost made it. Almost being the little word that was problematic. Later, Steve would try to explain again and again that if he hadn't tried something, the girl (and maybe others) would almost certainly be dead. And he was proud of that.

At the moment, however, Steve realised that the car was already too close to jump out of its way (not without endangering the girl, anyway), so he instinctively turned to shield the girl, and used his still free hand to grab the car (he couldn't really remember the details from here on, but passers-by later stated that the basically plunged his fingers into the hood of the car to move it). Somehow, he managed to both cushion the impact and redirect the path of the car so that it crashed into the building sideways instead of frontal. His bones rattled, and glass and cement rained down on him. His first and foremost thought was that he needed to shield the girl, though, so he curled around her to make sure no falling objects would hit her.

After the cacophony of noise and the cloud of dust had finally dissipated, there was a moment where nobody moved or talked. Then Steve heard someone calling for the Police and an ambulance, and people were running to go help others. He slowly let go of the girl and checked her over for injuries. She had a few scratches on her arms, and spot on her arm was _definitely_ going to be one hell of an impressive bruise, but she didn't seem to have any major wounds. Good. Very good.

The girl was shocked silent at first, staring at him with huge, fearful eyes while he checked her over. Then she started crying and asking for her mother in between panicked sobbing and hiccuping. Steve tried to calm her down, but he was somehow getting a bit woozy and it was difficult to concentrate. He wiped the sweat off his face, thinking it strange that he was sweating so much. His hand came back bloody, and he finally noticed that something was not quite the way it should be. He tried to say something, but there was a strange buzzing in his ears and he couldn't hear his own voice. The girl was looking up at him, full-out bawling and scared out of her mind now, and that was the last thing he remembered.

* * *

 

Steve woke up in the hospital. It had to be the hospital, no other place put loudly beeping machines next to a sleeping person's head. _No wait, that's not quite true_ , he reminded himself. There was that one time he fell asleep in Tony's workshop and Dum-e chirped into his ears repeatedly, trying to examine him. It eventually ended in Tony getting annoyed and giving Dum-e a lecture about 'bad touches', which the bot gladly ignored. Steve hadn't really minded, he liked the bot. He minded the hospital much more.

While he was still blinking at the ceiling, trying to piece together what exactly had happened, the door opened and a nurse came in.

“Mr. Rogers, how are you?” she asked. Before Steve was able to answer, however, the door banged open once more and Tony came rushing in, eyes wide and his hair sticking up. The nurse turned around and sternly told Tony to leave (not for the first time, judging from the tone of her voice), but Tony simply ignored her and skilfully slipped past her. He stopped directly next to Steve's hospital bed, staring down at Steve for a few moments, eyes dark and worried. Then he took a deep breath.

“You fucKING IDIOT!” Tony went from shouting to flat out screaming in a matter of seconds. “YOU ALMOST DIED, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND?! EVERY FUCKING BONE IN YOUR BODY IS BROKEN, YOU LOOK LIKE YOU HAVE BEEN CHEWED ON BY A GIANT FUCKING ROBOT DOG!”

Steve couldn't help but smile up at Tony, but Tony didn't take that reaction very well.

“WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU SMILING, YOU GODDAMN IDIOT?” Tony continued. “HERO, MY ASS, YOU ARE FUCKING MENTAL!”

“Tony,” Steve tried to interrupt Tony's shouting. His voice was a little horse, but it came out relatively steady.

“DON'T YOU 'TONY' ME, YOU ASS!” Tony kept screaming.

“Tony,” Steve tried again, reaching out to take one of Tony's hands in his own. Steve had expected that Tony would pull his hand away, but instead, Tony clamped down on it with a death grip. “Tony, I'm okay. I'm pretty much indestructible.” Hearing that, Tony's eyes widened and he froze mid-lecture with his mouth open.

“No, you're really not,” he finally whispered. Then he forcefully pulled his hand out of Steve's grip and ran from the room.

“Can I check you now?” the nurse asked grumpily. Steve smiled at her apologetically. He couldn't feel bad about her reaction, Superheroes were notoriously difficult patients, and having them in the hospital usually meant trouble.

“I'm sorry for that. Please do,” he answered, patiently enduring the check-up for once.

* * *

 

Tony had completely overreacted, Steve was really quite well. He _did_ have a broken arm and some broken fingers, his body looked rather mauled on the side where the car had hit him, and _yes_ , he had gotten a few nasty cuts, especially on the head, from the glass and other flying objects (that had most likely also been the reason why he had fainted). Most of it was well on the way of being healed though.

At first, the doctor refused to let him go so soon, but Steve repeatedly assured her that he was used to this kind of thing and that he wouldn't suddenly drop dead if he left now. She finally relented, but not without giving him some very concise instructions. (If he didn't follow them, nobody would know.)

When he turned his mind to packing and leaving, however, the little girl he had saved stumbled into the room. She had acquired a few band aids, but seemed to be completely fine otherwise. Luckily, she wasn't scared of him anymore (that was probably due to the lack of blood dripping over his face) and enthusiastically thanked him, giving him a drawing of Steve saving her from the car. Steve was also introduced to her parents, two very lovely women who tearfully thanked him for saving their beloved daughter. They even promised to name their first boy after him, which made Steve extremely embarrassed. (Steve tried to decline and told them he wasn't really a hero, which lead to them protesting that statement violently and repeatedly assuring him they _really_ would name their son after him).

Once he had finally left the hospital room behind, he felt pretty good about himself, despite the naming fiasco. He turned to the main entrance, but someone snuck up to him, latched onto his uninjured arm, and pulled him towards a small side entrance.

“Are you stupid?” Tony complained quietly. “Do you know how many paparazzi are currently waiting out there? They're thirsting for blood, especially yours! I think you've bled enough for today.” With that, he led Steve outside to where Happy was waiting with one of Tony's less flashy cars and made him get on as quickly as he could. Once inside, Tony immediately sat next to him (on his right side, where he wasn't hurt much) and gave Happy the command to go back to the tower. If Tony sat a little too close, and his hand had somehow come to rest on Steve's knee, Steve didn't mention it.

* * *

 

They arrived at home without problems, and Steve thought that was the end of it. He would rest a few days, wait until the broken bones had healed, and things would be back to business as usual. Unfortunately, the resting part was extremely dull. He couldn't really do much right now, but staying in bed like the doctor had recommended to him sounded like an absolute nightmare. So he decided to get a book, go to the living room and read or maybe watch TV for a bit if he felt especially bored. Once he arrived there (he had refused the help of any of his teammates, he could still walk and hold stuff on his own, thank you very much), Tony was already sitting in one of the armchairs, seemingly absorbed in his tablet. Steve sat on the sofa and started reading, but after a while, he kind of felt a prickle on his skin. He didn't quite catch him looking, but Steve was pretty sure that the whole three hours he was sitting there, Tony kept staring at him whenever Steve's eyes were fixed on the book. Steve told himself that Tony was worried because he just got out of the hospital, and decided to ignore it.

* * *

 

Tony gave him fruits. The sort of apples he liked, cherries, peaches, grapes, but never any bananas. Steve would ask him why he knew which apples he liked and why Tony knew that he didn't eat any bananas, but that was probably JARVIS' doing. He accepted the gifts gratefully, didn't complain when they got increasingly exotic (and expensive), and when he cut the fruits, he always made sure that he cut enough for Tony as well. Tony looked a bit confused as to why Steve was suddenly making him eat the food that Tony gave him in the first place, but he ate it without complaints. And when Steve secretly delighted in feeding Tony apple slices by hand from time to time, well, nobody had to know.

* * *

 

It might have been due to the pain of the healing bone and skin, but Steve unexpectedly had one of his old nightmares prominently featuring snow, ice and endlessly falling down. He woke up in the middle of the night, gasping and drenched in sweat. The realness of the dream left him rattled, so he gave up on sleep and went to the kitchen to get something warm to drink. When he walked into the living room, hot milk in hand and hoping for something lowbrow on on TV to distract his mind, Tony was sitting in the semi-darkness. He looked up to Steve with assessing eyes but didn't ask any questions, and neither did Steve. He simply sat down next to Tony, turned on the TV and slowly drank his hot milk. It didn't take very long, and Tony inched closer, curling hesitantly against him. Steve might have leaned back a little, still feeling kind of cold and enjoying the feeling of someone's warmth. A few minutes after Tony had carefully placed his head on Steve's shoulder, Tony's breathing evened out, and Steve gently put an arm around him so he wouldn't fall off the sofa (or something). It didn't take long for Steve to fall asleep, as well. He slept so well he didn't even realise that Tony woke up and silently left the room early in the morning.

* * *

 

Steve was preparing to go out while Tony was hovering nearby, a worried look on his face.

“I'm going to be alright, Tony,” Steve tried to soothe him. “Just going to meet that driver and make sure this has been the last time that he decided to drive his car in a drunken state.” Tony didn't look particularly mollified. In fact he looked extremely annoyed and disgusted.

“That driver is one gigantic asshole and you should punch him with your Righteous Fist,” he groused. “He refused to apologise to the girl and her parents because they're both women.”

“And that is why Captain America is going to have a nice, long chat with him,” Steve said in a light tone, slipping into his shoes carefully to avoid jostling his still-healing arm. “I have a very elaborate speech planned.” Tony couldn't help grin at that.

“Don't wait up for me, darling,” Steve said jokingly, ruffling Tony's hair before he stepped into the elevator.

The fact that Tony had frozen on the spot and kept staring at the elevator doors long after Steve had left completely escaped him.

* * *

 

“Sir, Mr. Stark is asking for your presence in the workshop,” JARVIS suddenly announced. Steve looked up from his book, surprised.

“Ah... please tell him I'll be there soon?” Steve requested, getting up and making a short stop in the kitchen to slice a few fruits and bring Tony some snacks (he might as well, if he was going down to the workshop anyway). He wondered what Tony could suddenly want, business was slow at the moment for the Avengers. The talk with the drunk driver had also been a full success, and the driver had ended up apologising tearfully to the little family whose daughter had almost been killed.

Tony ambushed him as soon as he set foot into the workshop, dragging him over to a display and showing him a new uniform.

“I thought I might make you a better one, what are you even wearing all the time, how did SHIELD think sending you out with this crap was a good idea,” Tony started his explanation. Then he continued to elaborately and lengthily explain how the new uniform was both fire-proof and bullet-proof, and also protected against cuts caused by knives and other sharp objects. He showed Steve the hidden latch on his new helmet, and explained all the new features of it in excruciating detail. Once he was finished with the uniform, he shoved some more normal-looking clothes into Steve's arms.

“...and this is your running gear, it's reinforced but still light and breathable, so don't worry about that,” Tony finished.

 _Ah_ , Steve thought, _so that's what this is about._ He smiled down at Tony.

“Thanks,” he said. “Though I really don't plan to let this become a regular thing.”

“You better not,” Tony threatened, and turned his back to Steve.

* * *

 

Steve woke up when he heard the door to his room being opened quietly.

“Sorry,” Tony whispered, already moving to close the door again. “I just...”

“Tony,” Steve called out to him, reaching for the bedside lamp and turning it on. Tony froze. “Tony, don't worry about it. Can you come here for a bit?” Tony hesitated in the door frame, gripping the door knob a bit too tight, but eventually let go of the door and moved closer to bed. His eyes were dark and wide. Steve sighed.

“It's really okay to say you were worried,” Steve gently said. “I get worried, as well.” Tony only shuffled his feet and didn't reply.

That was the moment when a switch in Steve's mind flipped. He stood up, went over to where Tony was standing and enveloped him in a tight hug. He swayed a little back and forth, and after a minute or so, he felt the tension leaving Tony's body, his head dropping on Steve's shoulder.

“I kind of feel like a creeper,” Tony quietly confessed. “I don't know how to do this.” Steve laughed quietly.

“I'm going to be completely honestly with you here, I kind of like the attention,” Steve admitted. Then he kissed Tony's temple for good measure. Tony was like a puppet with its strings cut, slumping into Steve's embrace, Steve's strength the only thing still holding him upright. Steve felt his shoulder growing wet, and soon Tony was being shaken by huge, wrecking sobs.

Steve held him tight and said nothing.

* * *

 

“That was completely embarrassing and irrational,” Tony announced later, lying on his side on Steve's bed. Steve was lying next to him, waiting patiently for Tony to gather himself after his little breakdown.

“No, it's not,” Steve disagreed, gently running his fingers through Tony's hair. He liked the feeling of Tony's hair, so soft and easily mussed up. When he reached Tony's nape, he gave it an experimental scratch.

“Mmmh,” Tony hummed happily, blissing out a little before he remembered their ongoing discussion. “It is. Nothing really happened to you, you just got beat up a bit, and you're tougher than 99% of humanity. And I turned into a complete stalker, watching your every move.”

“It's not,” Steve repeated. “You were right about one thing. I'm not indestructible. I can get hurt. One bad fall, and it's over even for me. I guess it's important to realise that.”

“That doesn't justify me basically stalking you,” Tony said after a short pause, staring somewhere into the distance. Steve carefully edged a little closer.

“If you're worried about that, we can easily remedy it,” Steve suggested. “I can tell you my boundaries, and you are free to do whatever makes you feel comfortable inside of these boundaries. Sounds good, doesn't it?”

“Why are you even supporting my controlling streak?” Tony asked, exasperated.

“Because it allows me to live out my own controlling streak, as well,” Steve replied and kissed Tony on the nose. Tony wiggled his nose and moved closer, presumably to kiss Steve. Then he paused for a moment.

“Is that the drawing you got from the girl you saved?” he asked, pointing somewhere behind Steve's back.

“Faiza?” Steve smiled. “Yes, that's from her.” Tony considered the drawing for a minute.

“You did the right thing, you know,” he finally acquiesced. “You really are a hero.”

“Well, I might know someone else in this room who fits that description,” Steve replied teasingly. Tony scoffed a bit, but didn't disagree.

“How is your arm, by the way?” he inquired.

“Completely healed,” Steve confirmed, grinning at Tony with a wicked expression. “Want to have a demonstration?” That startled a real laugh out of Tony, curling into a ball and trying to calm himself down.

“I might, in fact,” he finally agreed, moving closer to Steve, still smiling happily.

Steve didn't even try to resist the urge to kiss that smile.


	2. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring the most uneventful and ordinary first date ever.

Steve was lying under the covers of his bed, determinedly keeping his eyes closed. He had already woken up a while ago, but he wasn’t quite ready to face reality yet. Instead, he was trying to drag out the moment where he had to stop pretending he was still asleep for as long as he could. He could feel Tony’s proximity and he could also hear his deep, calm breathing, yet a part of him couldn’t help but think that his brain was playing a very elaborate joke on him.

Tony moved next to him, wiggling himself into a more comfortable position, and one of his shoulders brushed against Steve’s arm. He mumbled something nonsensical into the pillow before he stilled once more, apparently still asleep. Steve couldn’t help but smile at that.

Curiosity finally got the best of him, and he opened his eyes.

Tony was really lying in his bed, right next to him, his face mashed into the pillow and his hair sticking up in weird places. It had been getting longer recently, and Steve felt the intense urge to card his fingers through those dark brown locks. Right now more than ever, but it was really an urge that never went fully away.

Tony’s hair was always in some state of messiness, be it in the morning when he had just woken up, in his workshop, streaked with grease and other things, or the artistic bird’s nest he had before he went to some kind of event. Steve was only 99% convinced that Tony did style his hair that way because he _knew_ that it made people want to stick their hands into that mess. He had seen men and women stare at Tony’s hair with slightly glassy eyes, no doubt imagining what it would feel like… __grabbing_ _ _…_ __it_ _. He blushed.

“Jaaabis,” Tony mumbled next to him, slowly coming to life.

“Good morning, sir,” JARVIS replied, as courteous as always. “It is 8:23 am now, and may I also remind you that you are currently in Mr. Roger’s bed?”

Tony startled badly, shoving the blanket away, sitting up and looking around with wide eyes. When he saw Steve lying next to him, he buried his face in his hands.

“Oh my god, Steve, I’m _so_ sorry for yesterday,” he apologised, and Steve’s heart immediately sank. “I was _such_ a creeper, and I _cried_ on you, and you were so nice to me…”

“Kissing,” Steve blurted out.

“What?” Tony looked up, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

“Are you sorry for the kissing part?” Steve repeated his badly phrased question, willing his developing blush away. “Do you regret that?”

Tony gaped at him for a moment, rendered speechless.

“I… no?” he finally squeaked.

“Good,” Steve smiled, suddenly feeling elated. “Good.”

He slowly folded back his cover, reached out to Tony and wrapped one of his hands around Tony’s wrist. Unsure of what to do, he tugged a little bit. Tony followed the gentle pull almost without resistance, eyes still wide and shocked, as if he really couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. He lay back down on the bed, never once breaking eye contact with Steve. Steve tried to keep smiling and look back, but his heart was pounding like mad and he felt as if his whole body was shaking. It had seemed so easy yesterday, to take Tony in his arms and kiss him. This morning, it seemed like a huge accomplishment.

Carefully, he inched closer, and Tony was still looking at him with that shell-shocked expression. Steve guessed he probably didn’t look any better, but something was irresistibly pulling him towards Tony, completely overruling any feelings of cowardice or insecurity. When he was almost nose to nose with Tony, he swallowed nervously. Tony’s eyes darted down to his throat and then upwards again, and with that subtle movement, Steve finally found the courage to close in and press a soft kiss on Tony’s lips.

“ _ _Steve__ ,” Tony whispered when Steve drew back, and that was really all he needed to hear.

He had fallen for this man.

Steve felt overwhelmed with the enormity of this sudden revelation. He closed his eyes, reached out to Tony and pulled him close until their foreheads touched. One of Tony’s hands came up and he grabbed Steve’s arm, squeezing hard.

“ _ _Steve__ ,” Tony repeated, and then they were quiet, staying in that position for a long time.

* * *

 

Steve could have happily spent the rest of his life lying there. He knew that Tony wasn't really so good with staying still and quiet for an extended period of time though, so he opened his eyes after a while and asked about breakfast.

“Coffee?” Tony hopefully inquired, not really opening his eyes quite yet.

“How about Coffee and pancakes?” Steve suggested with a smile, slowly pulling away from Tony and getting up. “Coffee doesn't really qualify as food.”

That, of course, made Tony wake up and sent him on a tangent about how awesome coffee was and how it definitely counted as food.

“Come on,” Steve laughed, holding out his hand, “let's go get some coffee _and_ pancakes.”

Tony was still grumbling, but he took Steve's hand and pulled himself up from the bed. That was the first time Steve actually realised that Tony was wearing a black tank top and a pair of blue pyjama bottoms, complete with white stars on them. He couldn't suppress a smirk. Tony looked at him doubtfully, trying to figure out his sudden amusement.

“What are you... oh,” he said, looking down at his legs, blushing a little. “I liked the design?”

“Yes, because nothing says classy like pants with stars on it,” Steve teased.

“Says the man dressed in a giant flag,” Tony threw back, pouting a little.

“Don't lie, you like it!” Steve claimed. Tony, for some reason, blushed even harder. Steve was thrown for a loop.

“...really?” he asked, astonished.

“Have you ever seen yourself in that outfit?” Tony exclaimed, wildly gesturing with his hands. “Every other person would look completely ridiculous in that outfit, but no, _you_ have to look like it's not only completely normal that a person walks around in a flag, your goddamn apple pie charm makes the whole thing look absolutely appealing! I swear there is some kind of evil magic at work here!”

Steve couldn't help but burst out laughing at that. Through his tears, he could see Tony pouting at him and after a while, Tony started to poke and push him to get him to stop, but it took him a long time to regain his composure.

“Good... good to know I have 'apple pie charm',” he finally wheezed, “and that I'm secretly a practitioner of the Dark Arts.”

Tony lifted an unamused eyebrow at him.

“You promised me coffee,” he complained. “How can you think I will be able to have any kind of rational discussion when I didn't even have coffee yet?”

“Yes, yes, the magic of coffee, huh,” Steve answered teasingly. “Because you seem to be having so much trouble forming sentences right now.”

“I'm not in the state of spouting polysyllabic words yet, am I?” Tony asked haughtily. “So chop chop, coffee.”

Steve smiled and carefully didn't mention that polysyllabic was a polysyllabic word.

* * *

 

Despite his earlier complaints, Tony inhaled both the coffee _and_ the pancakes, glaring at Steve as if to dare him to say anything. Steve was bright enough to smile an irritating smile and keep quiet.

“So,” he started, after finishing his own pancakes. Then he fidgeted. Steve was many things, but smooth had never really been one of them. Where had his confidence from yesterday gone to?

“Date?” Tony asked into his coffee mug. Then he looked up, expression both hopeful and scared. Steve gave him a smile that felt rather shaky, but he couldn't help it, with his heart hammering hard and fast in his chest.

“Date,” he confirmed, voice probably just as shaky as the rest of him.

For a short moment, both of them kept staring at each other, not able to look away or stop smiling at each other.

“Any wishes?” Steve broke the moment of silence, fidgeting with his knife and fork. “I... I wouldn't want to take you somewhere you wouldn't want to go.”

“Oh, you're gonna take me out?” Tony teased, smile growing impossibly brighter. He cupped his chin with his hands, his face adopting an exaggerated 'I'm thinking' expression. “Let me think... as long as I don't have to share you with someone, I don't mind the place.”

“Oh,” Steve said intelligently, blushing a little. “Good. Let's get dressed, then.”

“What, now?” Tony asked, eyes widening. “Are we going to a date _now_?”

“You don't have any appointments today, right?” Steve confirmed, taking Tony's empty plate from him and putting it into the dishwasher. “Neither do I. So it's perfect.”

Tony gaped at him for a second, but then he scuttled off to go get dressed and ready.

(Steve guessed he was really lucky. Tony looked just as nervous about this as Steve was. Which was, considering he'd just had the epiphany that he was completely in love with this man, very, _very_ nervous.)

* * *

 

Since he two of them hadn't really made any plans, they ended up leaving the Tower rather aimlessly and ended up at Central Park first. The weather was warm and sunny, so wandering through the park turned out to be a perfect choice, especially considering the fact that no-one paid attention to them in the least. Parents with their children, joggers, dog-owners, all of them were absorbed in their own little bubble, ignoring everyone else around them.

Steve and Tony also let everything around them fall away, wandering around under the shade of the trees, talking to each other, laughing and joking about things. Steve bought them ice cream from a street vendor, and they strolled around the lake, busily nibbling at their cones. Somehow, they ended up at the Museum of Natural History.

When Steve pointed it out, Tony suggested a visit. Steve gave him a look, but Tony just shrugged and said he knew that Steve liked museums, and therefore they should go and visit one. Steve didn't even get a chance to point out Tony's faulty logic, since Tony simply went ahead and walked inside to go buy tickets.

After a bit of contemplation, Tony decided on the space show. Steve asked as carefully as he could if Tony was going to be okay with that, but Tony shrugged again and said that _that_ little brush with death hadn't been enough to kill his fascination with space. So they went to the planetarium.

The show was very interesting, at least for Steve. He had been catching up with a variety of things, but there had been so many things that had been discovered and researched while he had been temporarily indisposed that it was really hard to catch up with everything. Not for Steve's lack of trying, he would like to emphasise.

At some point during the show, Tony started to slowly slide closer to him. Just when Steve was contemplating to unobtrusively find Tony's hand in the dark, Tony's found his instead. Heart hammering wildly, he carefully and gently squeezed Tony's hand, and Tony squeezed back, both still looking up at the starry sky above them.

Steve didn't really catch much of the rest of the show.

* * *

 

Tony didn't let go of his hand even after the lights had went on again, and the two of them left the room still hand in hand. Steve felt as if he had gone back to being tiny and asthmatic, his breath catching in his throat and his heart hammering in his chest. Judging from the slight blush on Tony's cheeks, however, Tony wasn't doing much better.

They wandered around the museum a little after the visit to the planetarium, and Tony patiently explained things to Steve he hadn't caught up on yet. Steve had to be careful, though, because Tony would mercilessly sprinkle fabricated facts into his explanations, and he did it well. More than once, they ended up loudly bickering over whether something was true or not, until both of them ended up laughing. Steve found himself wishing several times that he never would have to leave here and let go of Tony's hand ever again. It was silly, but he couldn't help it. Rose-coloured glasses and all that.

After a while, when Steve felt Tony would get restless soon (and Steve's stomach started to complain), he suggested a meal. Tony immediately agreed, whipped out his mobile phone and tried to make reservations at some particularly swanky place.

“Are you trying to show me off or are you trying to impress me?” Steve asked with raised eyebrow. “Because if it's not the former, we really don't need to go to such a place.”

“Oh, I want to show you off,” Tony grinned at Steve. “But yes, I do remember having said that I don't want to share you with anyone else. So I guess that plan is a no go.”

They kept discussing what kind of restaurant would be best while they left the museum wandered around aimlessly, but Tony seemed to have fun coming up with the most ridiculous suggestions that Steve couldn't help but refuse. Just when Steve was getting slightly annoyed, they ended up in front of a cosy-looking restaurant. Tony pointed towards it.

“Hey, how about that one?” he suggested with a self-satisfied smile.

“You were giving me the run-around!” Steve suddenly realised, exasperated. “Couldn't you just say 'Hey Steve, I know a nice place, let's go there'?”

“Nonsense, Steve, it's all coincidence!” Tony brazenly claimed, holding the door open for Steve with a small bow.

The fact that everyone knew Tony by (first) name and did their utmost so he and his companion could enjoy their dinner in peace determined that had been a lie.

The food _was_ excellent, though, and the company was entertaining, no five stars and glitzy setting necessary. (Tony, apparently, knew that too.)

* * *

 

Their way home was relatively quiet after the animated talking they had done during dinner. Somehow, it felt simply right, _natural_ , to just walk next to each other, enjoying each other's company quietly. Tony didn't even give in to his usual impulse of fiddling with some piece of technology as soon as he had a chance to do so. He just kept looking towards Steve from time to time, smiling at him whenever their eyes met.

After the fifth or sixth time this had happened, Steve simply reached out and wrapped his arm around Tony's waist. Then he pulled him in. Tony started giggling, but let himself be pulled in without resistance.

“I feel like a teenager,” Tony confessed, leaning into Steve.

“I was busy getting beaten up in back alleys as a teenager, so I assume you don't mean that,” Steve joked.

“This is definitely much, much better than getting beaten up in back alleys,” Tony laughed. “Although I would've loved to see _that_.”

“You mock my pain,” Steve complained.

“No, I'm sure you were quite impressive,” Tony assured him, wrapping one of his own arms around Steve and squeezing gently.

“I was tiny and wheezy,” Steve reminded him.

“Mmh, yes, very impressive, I'm sure,” Tony said, eyes narrowing like a satisfied cat. “Makes me want to see it all the more.”

“You're weird,” Steve laughed.

“And yet you're here,” Tony challenged him with a grin.

“That I am,” Steve said, giving Tony a kiss on the top of his head.

For some reason, that simple act made him feel stronger than any serum ever could.

* * *

 

“So,” Tony said once they were in the elevator, on their way back to their homes. “I had a lot of fun today. And I really hope you had fun as well, because I'd really, _really_ like to do that again. Just saying.”

“Tony, what part of 'I have you trapped in a corner of an elevator and am trying to kiss you' says 'I don't want to go on another date with you'?” Steve asked with an eye-roll.

“Oh,” Tony dumbly replied. “ _Oh_. Okay then. Just ignore my babbling, I think this dating thing is not really my thing, I'm not sure what the conventions here are...”

“Tony, the conventions are that you _shut up and let me kiss you_ ,” Steve emphasised.

Tony stared at him for a second and then nodded.

“Good,” Steve praised, and then went in for the kill when he was sure Tony had stopped fidgeting.

A kiss after a first date, it might be antiquated, but it felt _good_. Especially when you were kissing someone who was as enthusiastic about kissing as Tony. For the nth time today, Steve found himself wishing they never had to stop doing this.

Tony wrapped his hands around Steve's neck, and Steve's hands were suddenly on Tony's hips, thumbs rubbing circles into the skin under Tony's shirt where they could reach it, and things started to heat up a little when J.A.R.V.I.S suddenly announced that they had arrived at Steve's floor.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, both slightly out of breath.

“Would you like to stay another night?” Steve asked, shrugging a little. They were adults, the could do whatever they wanted, and right now, Steve wanted to stay with Tony.

“Would you think less of me if I did?” Tony asked back with a small smile.

“No, because it's what I really want, too,” Steve answered, pulling Tony with him, trying to kiss him simultaneously. They ended up fumbling around a little, banging into a sideboard somewhere, and J.A.R.V.I.S let out a distinct sigh in the background.

“Hey, I didn't program you to sass me like that!” Tony complained.

“Well, he did have a good teacher,” Steve commented off-handedly between kisses to Tony's cheeks and neck. Tony stilled for a moment, processing Steve's comment.

“That was _you_!” Tony howled. “I was thinking J.A.R.V.I.S has been awfully sassy recently!”

Steve only chuckled into the nape of his neck. Tony obviously took enormous offence to that, but he eventually let himself be appeased by the liberal application of kisses and the option of spending the night in a Cap Hug™.

“No-one refuses a Cap Hug™,” he mumbled as he was falling asleep in Steve's arms.

“Lucky for me,” Steve mused, giving Tony a last kiss good night.

It was a very good night.

**Author's Note:**

> Should you have any comments, suggestions or wishes, drop me a line or come bother me on [tumblr](http://kurowrites.tumblr.com)! ^_^


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